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Hearing over raw milk producer continues today

Testimony continues Wednesday in a Sibley County District Court trial about raw milk products made at a dairy farm linked to an E. coli outbreak.

The state wants a court order to destroy stored inventories of cheese, ice cream and other products on the Michael Hartmann farm near Gibbon. The state says the farm is unsanitary, and the food could be contaminated.

During two visits to the farm state investigators found rodent droppings, manure contamination and dead animals that had not been disposed of. The Hartmann side maintains that except for a single finding of E. coli in a cheese sample, the state has failed to prove the food is contaminated.

The state and Hartmann disagree on whether the E. coli found in the cheese is dangerous. Meanwhile, some raw milk advocates are arranging car pools to the proceedings to, "show their support for food freedom in the case against Hartmann Dairy Farm."